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Siapiau
is Welsh for 'Shapes', as the four members of the band create shapes in
the air out of apparently nothing. The beauty of improvisation is that,
at its best, it creates something perfectly fitted to the moment it was
created in.
Siapiau is a new project from four
improvisers who have been playing together in
different formats for over twenty years. It's a band
who aren't afraid of the experimental, but aren't
afraid of a good groove either. It's improvised music
that you could, at times, dance to. The line-up is Maggie
Nicols on voice and keyboard, Fran Bass
on electric bass, Richard Harrison on Drums
and percussion and Phil Hargreaves
on tenor/soprano sax and flute. Although Maggie is the main vocalist,
we all sing. As does everybody, of course.
History
It started in September 2021, when after the
annual Grand Gathering for improvising musicians at
Melin Dolwion in South Wales, me, Fran and Maggie did
an online Gathering. After a week of playing together
we had a fine understanding, and I emailed Maggie to
say that all we needed was to add a drummer, and there
was a very good band. She agreed, and so it went...
But then, maybe it started in 2012, when me
and Maggie began work on our duo album, 'Human'.
Or maybe it started in 2006 with the band Mesmerise, with Maggie and Fran. Or maybe in 2001,
when Richard played on my improvising big band/poetry
project 'The Dislocation Sermons'. Or was it
1999 when I first met Maggie, working with the Frakture
Big Band? Let's just say, that we have history,
both together and separately.
phil
hargreaves
Liverpool Feb 2023
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